Shadow of the Evil God

"The details are unimportant," said Lygotius indifferently. "You're annoying Zaburon, and that's more interesting than kneeling in the dark tide, looking helpless and hopeless, isn't it? You've done a great job, but it's a shame that the truth won't be passed down to future generations as a song, and instead the clichéd stories you've spun will be passed down—a real shame."

"A corny story is all that people want, sir," Diana said politely.

"Indeed, but it lacks artistry," Legosius said, spreading his hands. "Cliched stories are always the same, and they become boring after a while. But I'm glad to know that I can admire your efforts up close, Cesar. I see you've stepped to the forefront of the stage. You not only want to conquer the shattered empire, but you also want to reshape the world and build a different order. Even the princess changed her mind after hearing your words! It's truly heart-stirring."

"I just needed something to fill the power vacuum," Cesar said.

"Yes, I know you're filling the power vacuum left by Sodoris, but the way it's structured is quite novel to me. I'm a fan of novelty, and you have a lot of it. Of course, the fact that you've survived so many trials and didn't die in a grand tragedy is another pleasant surprise."

Cesar's brow twitched. "I'm glad to hear that you enjoy tragedies. May I ask which grand tragedies have ended with my death?"

Legotius smiled. "Perhaps every performance is like that, Cesar. Just recall it. Honestly, I have no ill will towards you. I simply admire the show and, incidentally, hope that you will be the lead actor. That's all. Ultimately, artistry is important, more important than anything else."

Legosius's words were consistent with its existence and its attitude, but they were filled with an indescribable cruelty, not even kindness.

and malice.

"So you came here just to share your insights on art with me?" he demanded.

"And let me inform you," Bai Yan said, "the Corpse Eaters have changed their leadership and their attitude has shifted. You don't have to worry about Sean coming to question you."

"Change of ownership?"

"Is its current ruler a human, or perhaps an infected human mind? This creature presented itself as flesh and blood food to the mouth of the Corpse Eater leader, Bloodbone, and then assimilated it. All Corpse Eaters who doubted and opposed the new Bloodbone either died in the tides of the abyss or escaped with the only remaining tower. I have to say, this is also a wonderful drama, but, of course, your side is more worthy of my appreciation."

"Thought plague?" Diana said the word almost subconsciously.

"It does," Legosius said nonchalantly. "A spell of natural disaster nature never fully resolves itself; some unnoticed remnants will always remain. But don't worry, Miss Mage. As long as Zavulon's beloved disciples survive, it won't erupt again. It's just that some of its offspring linger in the world, infecting some ignorant, poor souls."

"If Trisius or Altinia completely accepts the erosion of the abyss, and gradually infects all royal bloodlines, and finally penetrates the true dragon's dream and reaches the true dragon itself, will this matter evolve into a disaster of the same scale as the thought plague?" Cesar asked it.

"I'm just experiencing and appreciating the performance itself," it spread its hands in frustration. "The more dramatic the process, the better. As for the outcome, or what you'd call the epilogue, I don't really care. Zawulun must know, but I don't, and I haven't asked him that much. Of course, for your sake, I can take off my hat to all the victims after everything is over. Do you think that's enough?"

Cesar stared at Legosius. "I know you can still move on, Legosius. You belong to the Age of Gods, and the end of the human world has nothing to do with you. But I am not, so I hope you won't keep emphasizing this in front of me."

"Okay, I'll listen to you. When I'm dealing with someone who's good at being a human being, I can listen to your advice."

"How's the situation with old Sean?"

"Sean is getting closer and closer to the Age of Gods. But I suspect his goal in the tour is different from that of all those who have experienced the Age of Gods before."

"I wonder when he's going to go crazy."

"That depends on your definition of madness, Cesar," Legotius said with a dreadful smile. "As I see it, perhaps it's simply that Thane's conception of reality and illusion has shifted. If he believes that the inhabitants of this world are but dust cast by a dragon in its dreams, that the world is a boundless mass of dust flying everywhere, what becomes of the definition of reality and illusion? If he believes that time in this world does not exist, and should not exist, that the so-called past, present, and future are but empty illusions from the Eternal Age of the Gods, the paths traced by dust particles as they fly around, what becomes of the definition of reality and illusion?"

Cesar took Diana's hand and hugged her slender body. He found that she also held his hand tightly, intertwining her fingers with his, holding it tightly. "This is a bit cruel to the creatures we live among, Legosius." He said.

"Oh, indeed, but what about the beings who aspire to reach higher?" The White Nightmare stretched its arms out toward the ruins of the outer city. "Humanity vanished in the dark tide as if it had never existed. Neither flesh nor soul remained. Everything vanished. Who can find their bodies? Who can call forth their spirits? No one. Faced with such fatal fragility, some will feel sympathy, a shared sorrow. However, others will have different ideas." It sideways glanced toward the inner city. "For example, your beloved Grandmaster Ferriers."

"But I know that Grand Master Ferriers has been maintaining order and stability for thousands of years," Cesar said. "What about Sean?"

"Sean is also maintaining the stability of Noien." Legosius raised his eyebrows and turned to face the ruins below with his empty blind eyes. "Of course, we all know that some people maintain the stability of order only to prepare for the sacrifices they want to hold on a grander scale. Whether it is Sean or Grand Master Firiels, they are both very suspicious, don't you think? Only by overcoming all worldly obstacles can we approach these idealists who stand on the edge of the Age of Gods."

Ideal? Or fantasy?

Chapter 348: Is she shy?

......

Artinya sat in the room she had carefully chosen for herself, her back propped against the pillows of her couch. This was a towering tower, which, as Cesar knew, had housed the chambers of the fortress's first few rulers. Despite the fortress's ongoing renovations and maintenance, the tower remained ancient and simple. Successive rulers, like Count Villars, gradually abandoned their dilapidated rooms for the more comfortable castle.

Their princess believed that if a ruler wanted to control the fortress, she must live here. Count Villars's abandonment of this residence only proved that he was not a qualified commander, and implicitly meant that she was.

Once Artinya made a decision, she was stubborn and difficult to change. Cesar didn't want to argue with her about such things, so he finally ordered people to renovate the place where supplies had been stored for many years and turned it into a barely decent residence.

After entering the room, Cesar first saw Altinya reading by the bed, then saw the white cat approaching, staring at him with wide blue eyes. Aside from its furry body and distinctly beast-like head, its posture was no different from that of a human.

Its eyes and pupils were large. Cesar hadn't paid much attention to its paws then, but now they were covered with small boots that looked like the boots Artinia had worn as a child, and a tailored cape draped over its shoulders. When their princess was concentrating on her studies, it moved with remarkable agility, looking like a wild cat eager to leap up and down. But as soon as she laid eyes on it, it would immediately restrain itself, gaiting like a royal noble, and every gesture was filled with grace and grace.

Thinking about how Altinya had been staying in the tower to recuperate recently, seemingly with nothing to do but never complaining, Cesar immediately understood what she was doing. Not only had she dressed the cat in boots and a cloak, but she had also made it walk according to aristocratic etiquette, clearly hoping to transform its innate wildness into a character and demeanor like hers before it grew up.

"Here are the belt, hat, clothes and rapier you asked for, Your Highness." A voice came from outside the door. Cesar looked in the direction of the voice and saw a servant carrying a pocket-sized piece of clothing and a sharp sword wrapped tightly in cloth up to the tower, placing them on the cabinet in the bedroom, and then leaving.

Where did she get such enthusiasm from? Was she preparing to raise royal offspring? It was hard to say.

Altinya flung aside the blanket and swung her legs to get out of bed, but she couldn't help but frown. Though she tried to suppress her voice, Cesar could see the excruciating pain that spread from her back through her legs. Diana finally soaked the cloth and walked over to wipe her cheek, then held the bowl of herbal juice to her lips and watched her drink.

After their Royal Highness drank the medicine she had prepared, Diana set the bowl aside and reached out to touch her forehead. "You feel better," she said, "but you'll need time to recover. The wooden basin is filled with warm water and the medicine is ready. I'll take you there later. I'll also take care of wiping you down and changing your clothes."

"You wiped my body and changed my clothes like this then?"

"It is," Diana agreed. "Is that difficult for you to accept?"

"Not really," Altinya said, "but I just have this indescribable feeling in my heart."

"You've never been this ill before."

"I know that. I mean... I can't imagine you doing such a thing, Annie. To put it bluntly, we're both pretty arrogant, and we don't necessarily have much forgiving of each other."

"Maybe we just don't know each other well enough," Diana added. "We didn't know each other well enough in the past."

"I guess so." She had a complicated expression. "But I think there will always be secrets and barriers between people, and sides they don't want to show, even to their closest friends. We used to often mock each other and hide a lot of things from each other. I've always been accustomed to it, but recently..."

"Some people are good at revealing their true feelings." Diana glanced at Cesar, and he shrugged. "I was a little bit infected too," she said.

"You look more charming than a few days ago," said Altinya.

Diana frowned, "You say..."

"If your school wants to take away the child who was born with the school's mission, I will come forward to discuss with them and keep the child in our court." Artiniya said again.

"I'm sure you were already outlining the blueprint for family inheritance for me before I met Cesar, isn't that right, my dear princess? Schools, teachers, inheritance, close friends, all these contradictory and conflicting things must be taken into account, and you must grasp them all with the most comprehensive method you can imagine?"

There was a brief silence. "People who want to be on top tend to be a little greedy. I think that's inevitable."

"You're such a good excuse," Diana sighed.

Cesar was sitting at his desk, waiting for them to finish, when he felt a paw twirling his hair. Turning, he saw the white cat standing on tiptoe, reaching over his head, as if trying to touch something above him. Its eyes were wide, a look of curiosity on its face. "What are you looking for?" he asked.

"Ancestor!" it replied, a girl's voice.

sound.

Cesar realized that it wanted to touch Ajeh behind him, but the creature was not very friendly. "Your ancestors are not much older than you are now," he said to it.

"Those are also ancestors," it replied in a voice like a silver bell. "In this era, we no longer have any living ancestors. Each ancestor was a tribe, and since they disappeared, no new tribes have been born."

"Do you have a name now?"

"Her Royal Highness calls me Ovia."

"This name really has the air of a royal aristocrat."

"No, it's a swordsman," Oviya corrected. "She said she wanted me to become a hero, the kind that even humans would bow to! But why is our ancestor floating behind you? Who are you to her?"

Cesar rubbed his jaw, lost in thought. He subconsciously wanted to rub his beard but found there was nothing on his jaw. Then he remembered that Diana had trimmed his beard completely, and she had forced him to do it.

"I'm hers, um, father, do you understand?" Just as he finished speaking, Ajehe's claw suddenly appeared from thin air and grabbed his throat. He coughed, grabbed Ajehe's claw and pried it apart. "I'm kidding," he said with a smile. "My relationship with her is like your relationship with Her Royal Highness the Princess. Do you understand what I mean?"

"I understand a little, but not completely." The white cat said confusedly, "But why doesn't she come out and talk? Is she afraid of strangers? Or shy?"

Chapter 349: It’s All Zawulong’s Fault

Cesar thought that if he teased Ajeh again, her claws would pierce his neck. "Then why aren't you afraid of strangers?" he asked her.

"She's the princess here. She said that since I'm staying with her, I don't need to be afraid."

White Cat Oviya was silent for a moment, then added, "This, um, Mr. Cesar, she said you are the messenger of the true God, but is that true?"

"Yes, Oviya, if you consider that walking in the path of Analik makes me its messenger, then I am."

"How come you can walk on that road and still look like an ordinary human?" it demanded.

"I want to be a normal human being, so I'm doing my best to be one."

"So, you are no longer human?" it kept asking.

"According to what you said, many people in this world are no longer. Yet people still think they are, and not only that, they even respect their existence."

"That's hard to understand..." Oviya said with wide eyes, "So, as long as others think you are, and you think you are, then you are?"

Cesar watched from the side as Diana fed Altinia a bitter medicine. Her brow furrowed as if stabbed, the more she drank, the deeper the frown grew. He wondered if Diana had deliberately made the taste so bitter. "The reverse is also true," he said. "Some people undoubtedly meet the physiological definition of human, but they themselves believe they are no longer human, and others also believe they are not, so they are something more terrifying and cruel."

He turned around and saw the white cat that Altinya brought back from the battlefield lost in thought. Suddenly, with curiosity and impulse, he reached out and grabbed its paw.

This cat, covered in white fur, had tiny paws and short, soft fingers, each claw tucked in almost invisible. Cesar first took its rightmost finger and squeezed it, feeling it was soft as if it had no bones. Then he touched the tucked-in claw tip, and finally, gently pressed the pad of its palm. A translucent claw emerged from its finger, still curved and short.

"What are you doing?" It opened its eyes wide.

"This is the messenger of the true God, checking whether you can wield a sword." Cesar said thoughtfully.

"So I can?"

He rubbed the soft cat's paw in his hand, wondering how he could know such a thing; he just wanted to rub it. However, he couldn't just say it directly, so he said hello to Gouzi and took the rapier that Altinya had ordered from the blacksmith. He untied the cloth strips in a formal manner and placed the sword in Oviya's hands.

When Cesar saw the white cat in boots holding the sword and swinging it closely, he suddenly felt dazed and recalled the scenes of Cecia teaching him swordsmanship.

Had he not accepted Duke Urbino's request, he might now be traveling with the Black Sword mercenaries, seeking work. While the mercenaries were camped, he and Cecia would have gone out alone, seeking out knightly tournaments in the surrounding area. He would have fought with his own longsword, using the prize money from the tournaments to supplement his increasingly limited finances.

Cesar recalled the basic movements Cecia had taught him, sorted out his thoughts, and then taught them to the cat standing on the desk in a meticulous manner. Although his swordsmanship skills were ordinary now, his theory was taught by a great swordsman master, which was enough to teach beginners.

He meticulously taught it two defensive stances, the basics of forward and backward steps, and forward and backward thrusts, inevitably enjoying the softness of its limbs and claws to correct its form. For a beginner, its natural swordsmanship was a bit more refined than his, and it soon developed the ability to strike with a sword. Its nimble body seemed to allow it to execute swift swordplay much more smoothly than his.

The problem was that Cecia held a philosophy that believed sufficient weight, arm span, and wrist strength were the most crucial requirements for a swordsman. Without these qualities, no matter how fast, agile, or athletic a person was, they would inevitably die young. In other words, if a swordsman couldn't block an opponent's sword, he wasn't really a swordsman.

The swordsmanship that Ceshia taught him also adhered to this concept. In their confrontations, blocking and strength competitions were everywhere. His arms, knees and wrists would quickly become tired, and his joints and muscles would ache at night.

As for the cat before him, it was undoubtedly the complete opposite of Cecia's concept. Although it was very flexible, it was also completely powerless. If it was careless for a moment, a human child who had worked hard for years might be able to pin it to the ground and make it unable to move.

Besides, Artinya herself uses a heavy sword, how dare she say that she can teach this cat?

While he was thinking, the white cat Oviya had collapsed onto the desk, curled up into a ball of white fur, with the rapier thrown aside. It had actually fallen into a deep sleep. He couldn't tell whether it was truly exhausted or if it was just cat nature that made it unwilling to move. He couldn't tell.

Soon, Cesar found that Diana had helped Artinia to another room. There was also a pungent smell of damp water and herbs coming from the crack of the door. Seeing that there was no one around, only the dog winking at him, he immediately reached out his hand quietly and hugged the sleeping white fur ball.

stand up.

Ajiehe had grown a bit recently and was becoming less easy to subdue. He hadn't held her in his arms and kneaded her randomly for a while. Although this guy was a stranger, he felt that since he had taught it basic swordsmanship, they were already familiar with each other, so some things could be done.

The ball of white fur in his arms started scratching his face with its claws, but its claws were soft and short, and the scratches were very light. Its eyes were not open, and it was just blindly looking for something to touch.

Cesar thought the creature was searching for something, until it bit his finger. Then he realized it might be seeking its mother's milk, letting out a low meow. This time, he couldn't help but feel strange. Judging by its size alone, it was already close to a farmer's child, capable of walking around on its own. Even among true cats, it was medium-sized. To think it wasn't still weaned was impossible.

Even tiger cubs are not as big as it.

Thinking this way, perhaps it wasn't a beastman by nature, but rather the result of a transformation between a human and a domesticated kitten during a corpse-eating ritual. The characteristics of the two creatures merged, and its thoughts similarly derive from two sources: on one hand, it exhibited a relatively mature human mind, while on the other, it also carried the characteristics of a feline that hadn't yet been weaned.

As far as Cesar could see, the beastmen born in this way were all deformed and horrible hybrids. Having only two twisted and hollow beast faces and two confused animal features was considered mild. Most of them were so complicated that they were unrecognizable.

A species as pure as Oviya would never be placed in a settlement of hybrid beastmen. Perhaps the corpse eaters didn't have the patience to find a few unique individuals among the countless hybrids? Or, in order to guide Altinya, Zavulon used some method to purify her bloodline?

Cesar wanted to observe carefully at first, but after stroking its soft fur for a while, Diana still didn't finish. He couldn't bear it anymore, so he lowered his head and buried his face in its warm and soft belly, feeling the soft cat fur covering his face.

"I must warn you, Master," the dog suddenly said, "this is a beastman, not a mere cat. If anyone comes and sees what you're doing, I'm afraid something you don't want to see might happen."

"I'm collecting tuition for swordsmanship lessons." Cesar tilted his head over the white cat Oviya's belly. "You know, it has no money, so there's no way to pay. But I can't go against the traditions of my master, so I decided to let it do this for me."

"You can ask Her Royal Highness the Princess to pay the tuition for you," she said.

"She teaches her swordsmanship, and I teach mine," Cesar denied. "These two things must be done simultaneously, so it can adopt the northern Casar Empire and the southern, uh, - southern what? In short, southern swordsmanship. Then, it can combine the strengths of the two families to explore a swordsmanship that suits it. This is obviously against the rules and must be done privately, so she can't pay on its behalf, do you understand?"

The dog blinked. "Do you really think it's me you want to convince, Master?"

"Diana would certainly agree," Cesar said, reaching out to grab its dangling tail again.

"I doubt that, Cesar," Diana denied.

He raised his head nonchalantly and stared at Diana, who was standing beside him with her arms folded, observing him. During this time, the white cat curled up in his arms, looking drowsy, and even stretched out its warm cat tongue to lick his face, which made her look even worse.

"Would you like to pet the cat that Altinia picked up, Diana?" Cesar asked nonchalantly. "I think it needs some nourishment, maybe warm milk, don't you?"

"I have no interest in small animals," Diana denied again, "and I don't think this is a small animal. Do you see the belt on the table? The buckle and chain on it are designed to cover your face when you, an idiot, use it as a cat."

"It's all Zablong's fault." He shook his head and sighed. "Zablong is so hateful. I must have been cursed by him. Do we still have the invisible assassin's blade? I need it to dispel the evil curse for me."

Diana raised her eyebrows, her lips curling up slightly, almost imperceptibly. "Don't act silly." She finally turned her slight smile into a sigh. She must have mastered the art of turning any expression into a sigh. "Put it on Aya's bed, then come with me to grind the herbs. Our princess needs to attend the meeting today, and I need to prepare some extra things for her."

Chapter 350: The Blood and Bones of the Corpse Eaters in Neuen

Cesar reached out and touched the corner of her lips, pulling them up into a smile. "You always have a sullen face," he said with a smile.

"I'm frowning because you do so many unexpected things." Diana put her hand on the corner of his lips, pulling down his smile. "What do you think of this little guy? Can he use a sword?"

"I think it's better at using a sword than I am."

She shook her head and sighed. "There are so many people who are better at swordsmanship than you, aren't they, Cesar? What's there to say?"

"No," Cesar said, thinking about it for a moment. "I think I must be very good with a sword. The proof is dark-haired Ajeh. If she was good, then I am good too. But when she left, she took all that with her soul, leaving me with only the residue. That's why I'm so bad at it."